A Good Tip From the Garden

Learn about a natural answer to Spring allergies without the side effects. Try local Bee Pollen or Turmeric.

Allergy season, a time full of beautiful flowering plants, baby animals, and potential headaches, nonstop sneezing, stuffy nose, and fatigue.

When searching for a holistic approach on how to alleviate some of these symptoms, many turn to dietary supplements and therapies to help strengthen the body’s defenses against environmental allergies.

Turmeric is best known around the US as being a spice, and one of the main components of curry powder. However, turmeric has been long looked to in helping treat many health conditions in parts of Asia.

Curcumin is the main bioactive compound found in turmeric, not only being the ingredient that gives turmeric its distinctive, bright, yellow coloring; but also one of the main reasons for its superstar popularity surge. This is due to curcumin being a strong antioxidant, along with having anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, antiviral, and antifungal properties.

Scientists are expanding their research to see what other possible health benefits turmeric may provide.

Anti-allergenic as well? Some of the research:

An article in Molecular Nutrition & Food Research (2008) reviewed curcumins antiallergic properties by assessing the effectiveness of curcumin in treating symptoms of both the allergic response and asthma. The researchers looked into cellular and in animal studies to show that the allergic response was significantly inhibited for those animals receiving curcumin as part of their standard diet.

Another animal study from the 2013 issue of International Immunopharmacology showed how curcumin could possibly reduce the allergic response. The researchers found that a group who received the curcumin supplement expressed a reduction in the number of allergic rhinitis symptoms, including sneezing, frequency of nose rubbing, eye tearing, and nasal congestion.

Ultimately, a 2016 article in Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology reviewed the efficacy of curcumin for the treatment of allergic rhinitis (AR) and the effects on patients’ overall quality of life. They conducted a human trial of the effects of curcumin on a group of 241 subjects who received either oral curcumin or placebo over a two-month timeframe. It was concluded that, the subjects who received curcumin showed reduced signs of sneezing and runny nose, as well as less nasal congestion.

Take Home Message

Overall, the studies appear to be promising, but more high-quality human studies are needed.

However, if you are loving the taste of curry dishes and those Turmeric lattes, you may just be ahead of the game on fending off some of those unpleasant allergy symptoms!